feeling discouraged

[Frankh]

I just checked my eight hives. Half of them are from cut outs. The established ones are doing ok, but the new ones are slow out of the blocks. For example, I combined two cut outs a couple weeks ago. I knew for sure the top one had a queen. When I checked the box today, I saw the queen, but no brood or eggs. How long do you think it would take her to get going. She was a mated queen that I purchased. Things are pretty dry here. No second cut hay is growing in the fields, but the trees and lawns are still pretty green. Maybe I'm just being too impatient. What are your experiences with cutouts? What percentage are successful in getting established?

[Charlie B]

I've had really good success with cut outs. I usually don't tie in allot of the brood comb into frames because I'm leary about disease. I tie in 2 or 3 frames with the newest best looking brood comb to get them started and let them draw out new comb. You're queen should be laying by now but sometimes it may take longer. Give her a little more time. Some percentage of mated queens you buy can be duds. I would talk to the breeder to see what they say.

[julysun]

Isn't this Forum a wonder! Here a NY beek getting help from a CA beek and the two will never meet. There are bright spots in this ole USA! Warms my heart. Semper Fi!

[Frankh]

Thanks for the advice, Charlie B. I have only been keeping a few frames per cutout. They tend to get beaten up depending on how easily they are removed. A few days after I get them home, I let them clean up the remainder.
This forum is indeed a great asset for me. I don't have any bee keeping clubs in my area. I am grateful to all the people who share their knowledge here.

[DamSutt1986]

I have 3 out of 4 hives from cut outs. They seem to take up to 2 weeks to get settled and start laying. Even longer to start building steady comb. They also seem to like to abscond pretty easily. I am checking them frequently and feeding them heavy until they are building strong and laying then I relax.

[DamSutt1986]

I have also started tying in less and less comb with each cut out. I don't like all the drone cells from old feral hives. Also I need them to build comb so I know they're happy and making it a home.

[libhart]

What might make them really happy is having some of that drone comb they worked so hard to build.

(Sorry, couldn't resist the jab)

[reneal]

If its really dry, your problem might also be that there's nothing coming in, so the queen may not be laying. My experience here in the PNW is that cutouts done after July are pretty iffy. A lot of the time they have almost no brood & are really likely to abscond.

[WWW]

Frank, you stated that things were pretty dry where you were so I would recommend you try feeding the slower hives with 1:1 syrup, this should give them a kick start, and keep feeding until you get some good rains in your area, this should stimulate them into comb building and brood rearing.....Bill